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Thursday, October 1, 2015

Call Me What You Want...

...but don't call me a money-grubber. Got it?

Listen, I never talk about sales numbers or earnings, because, frankly, it's no one's business. But lately I've been accused of all sorts of heinous crimes--namely, of splitting Vanished into three parts to make THE BIG BUCKS.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but if you're under the impression that every m/m book out there makes a ton of money, you're delusional. Some do very well, especially if the author is one of the popular kids. Some do very well despite the author not being one of the popular kids (Out of the Blackness is one example). Some can be a huge success with reviewers and gain the love of a few readers but never make a ripple in the pond. That's Vanished.

So, in the interest of full disclosure, let me share sales and revenue figures for Vanished. As of the last payments on September 29 (reflecting September 2014 - July 2015), Vanished had sold 390 copies and grossed $825.85. In 9 months. I'm not exactly ready to order that new Lear Jet, ya know? Now let's break that down a bit, shall we?

Consider taxes. Take away 27%. That leaves me with $602.87.
Consider cover art. That was $125. That puts me at $477.87.
Consider ISBNs I was required to purchased. That's $275 (one was $125 or 10 for $275, what would you have done?). So, we're down to $202.87.
Consider the audio version I've just paid for. That was $300. Now I'm down to $-97.13. Yes, that's right. NEGATIVE $97.13

Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining about sales or revenue. I knew Vanished wasn't going to be a huge financial win. That wasn't the point. Vanished came from a very
personal, very different place than Out of the Blackness. I wrote it for
my dying dad, in case you missed that. How much more personal can it
get? So, yes, attacks on that book hit me in a much softer place than
the other books.

Now that we're all grounded in reality again, shall we move on? Like the series, hate the series, have no feelings about the series. Fine. I appreciate it. But watch who you're calling a money-grubber because, to be quite honest, you don't know a damn thing.